Despite having been born and raised in Chambers County, Alabama,
in the southernmost foothills of Appalachia, James Still is
generally considered one of the finest writers to have lived and
worked in Kentucky. Most of Still's writings – including his
acclaimed novel River of Earth (1940), award-winning short
stories, poetry, children's literature, and folklore collections –
are set in the eastern Kentucky hills, where he lived from 1931 to
his death on April 28, 2001.

Both sides of Still's family could trace their ancestry to
Appalachian Virginia. His father J. Alex Still, a self-educated
farmer and horse trader, married James's mother Lonie Lindsey in
1893; the union produced ten children. The sixth child overall
…

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4949James Still1Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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